Healthcare Design - December 2022 - 24

In F o cus
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only brought into construction projects when
required. Issues arise because groups don't work
together to make sure that the total system is
fully functional. A good example is an interactive
patient room system that uses an in-room TV as
a digital interface for the patient to access entertainment,
medical records, and patient education,
as well as links with the building controls to
adjust lighting and temperature. Each of these
systems can be functioning properly, but if the
different hospital champions don't work together,
the overall experience will not be realized. A
solution is to bring together the different owner
groups (controls, network, facilities) to clearly
document the requirements and assign responsibilities
for design, review, and implementation.
Finally, scheduling and procurement issues
are always a possibility in today's construction
climate. To successfully implement most
technologies, the project team must closely coordinate
the construction, procurement, implementation,
training, and go-live process. Most
often, the construction team is focused on the
substantial completion and project closeout
without coordinating with the owner-furnished
technologies, which tend to be installed in the
last phase of a project. Even more rarely does the
team plan sufficient training and implementation
time. If users are not trained properly, they
will dismiss the technology " as too hard to use "
or simply " broken. "
specifications for each piece of equipment that IT has planned to install
in server cabinets in a data center or telecommunications room. Instead,
it's important to plan for future cabinet expansion by providing adequate
space and planning for increased power densities by standardizing based
on a future capacity such as 5-10 kW per server cabinet. A standardized approach
makes the power systems easier to maintain and easier to expand.
Another aspect of futureproofing is to build flexibility in the design of
healthcare IT devices. For example, a facility may want to implement registration
kiosks or tablets only to scrap the solution after six months due to
low usage. Often, the problem isn't with the kiosk or the tablet but with the
way these technologies were implemented and the lack of options for those
who are not able to use them. A better way is to provide multiple options for
a task, such as mobile registration via a smartphone, kiosks, or tablets, and
a smaller-staffed registration point. These options provide multiple ways
for technology to enable the patient experience goals of the healthcare system
and allow the owner to adjust their approach over time.
TOOLS FOR SUCCESS
Given the challenges of implementing technology-driven projects, there
are some valuable tools that can be used to ensure a successful project.
First, begin with a comprehensive team composed of design consultants,
an owner's executive team, core clinical leadership, IT, physicians, and
hospital support departments. After the team is assembled, determine the
technology decision-making group that will provide strategic direction
and the smaller functional teams that will eventually work out the technical
and integration solutions.
Technology visioning sessions can be conducted to understand how different
technologies will enable the overall project vision. These meetings
should result in a " technology roadmap " that provides a concise and clear
document that summarizes the technologies to be implemented during
the project and future upgrades, as well as a corresponding budget.
Conducting a pilot program is extremely beneficial, as well. First, it alDESIGN
STRATEGIES
When planning for technology, it's important to
design spaces that not only address users' needs
at the time of the project but can evolve over the
building's lifespan. For example, most spaces
used to house technology like data centers and
telecommunication rooms are designed by asking
IT how many racks and cabinets are needed
to support the equipment. While data continues
to move to the cloud, that's not always the case.
Meanwhile, more devices are now powered over
ethernet, which utilizes more network switches
that require more rack space. Similarly, an increase
in the power consumption of processors
is driving higher power consumption by servers,
which drives more electrical power service. Plus,
increasing power needs in high-performance
computing and research may soon require alternate
cooling methods such as immersion cooling.
In the end, these considerations typically
require more space than initially thought for
telecommunications rooms.
Furthermore, electrical power requirements
cannot be determined by solely asking for the
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DECEMBER 2022
lows time to work out all the technology requirements to ensure systems
can communicate, such as firewall and cyber security systems. Next, this
step affords the team the ability to bring in the clinical team and ensure
that all workflows and processes are supported by the integrated systems.
Valuable feedback is gained during these clinical work trials, which can
then be used to improve the design.
As projects progress from design to construction, periodic checkpoints
with the entire team are imperative to keep the project on track, implement
feedback from pilot programs, and react to new changes in the selected
technologies. These collaborations are critical to ensuring that a project
doesn't deliver outdated technology and that all integrations are realized.
STAYING FOCUSED
Implementing healthcare technology successfully requires focused involvement
from a comprehensive team, from early conceptual planning
through go-live and for many years of upgrades. The most common challenges
lie in understanding emerging technologies and the complex integrations
that will support the clinical and operational use cases. 
Taw North, RCDD, LEED AP, is principal and director of technology
consulting at TLC Engineering Solutions (Orlando, Fla.). He can be reached
at TAW.NORTH@TLC-ENG.COM. Ted Hood is a managing principal at
TLC Engineering Solutions (Brentwood, Tenn.). He can be reached at
TED.HOOD@TLC-ENG.COM .
HCDMAGAZINE.COM
http://www.HCDMAGAZINE.COM
Healthcare Design - December 2022

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